Another Jesus Quote You’ll Never Hear in Church

Few Christians have ever heard in church, or read themselves, the story of the Cannanite woman with a sick daughter. She came to Jesus because she’d heard of his healing powers, and because her daughter was ill. And upon finally getting an audience with Jesus, she asked him to heal her. This is how Jesus responds:

It is not right to take the children’s bread, and to cast it to dogs. — Jesus Christ, Matthew 15:26

In other words, “Get lost. I’m only here to help the Jews.” If you think that’s a distortion of his meaning, it isn’t. He comes right out and says it:

I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel — Jesus Christ, Matthew 15:24

It Gets Worse

At this point Jesus has already told the woman he would not heal his daughter–twice, and she decides the best way to get his attention is to lower herself to him–the way a slave does to a master. So right after being called a dog, by Jesus Christ, she says to him:

Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.

Or, to put it another way, “Sure, I’ll admit I’m a dog compared to Jews if you just heal my daughter.” If the lesson ended there I’d be slightly less repulsed, but no–Jesus actually likes the fact that she’s debased herself in this way to him, and he says:

O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. (and her daughter is healed within the hour)

But don’t take my word for any of this; look it up yourself. It’s right there in every Bible–in every hotel room and every Church–in the country.

I agree with Donald Morgan; the best arguments for atheism come not from lofty or deep philosophical arguments, but rather from the Bible itself. ::